AllStarLink is a network of Amateur Radio repeaters, remote base stations and hot spots accessible to each other via Voice over Internet Protocol. AllStarLink runs on a dedicated computer (including the Rasperry Pi) that you host at your home, radio site or computer center. It is based on the open source Asterisk PBX running our app_rpt application. App_rpt makes Asterisk a powerful system capable of controlling one or more radios. It provides linking of these radio "nodes" to other systems of similar construction anywhere in the world via VoIP.
AllStarLink's primary use is as a dedicated computer node wired to your repeater or radio. Connections from Echolink, other VoIP clients and telephone calls are supported.
AllStarLink has 30,303 users and 29,698 nodes.
The implementation of this system and its monthly upkeep is very costly. Any monetary help that you can and wish to give will be much appreciated. Allstarlink Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Re-Engineering Update #2 from the Allstarlink Board
March 5th, 2021
Greetings all,
This will be the final update on the system cutover performed on December 29th. On February 8th the new Allstarlink registration and node distribution system moved from development to a full production mode. Since the cutover, one bug was identified and some resource adjustments were made. Even with those changes the system maintained better than 99.93% availability rate. We cannot thank the cutover team enough for how cleanly this was accomplished.
At this point the focus will shift from system stability to back end system improvements. Improvements in the works are:
We will also be focusing on the client side with a new 2.0.0 release (currently in beta test) that allows for kernel auto updates and adds full raspberry pi support (including pi4) as well as numerous other enhancements.
I would also like to take this opportunity to announce the “ASL-Connected” program where 3rd party client and tool developers can partner with us to improve their user’s experience and make available new features. Participants have the opportunity to collaborate with our team and request changes to the ASL infrastructure (APIs etc) to better implement their new ideas. We hope this will add features to Allstar that we may not have even conceived of. We currently have two partners interested in the program and look forward to more who wish to work with us.
A similar program, “ASL-Tested” is an option for hardware only designers and has similar benefits.
Lastly, moving to commercial hosting from donated space (in past volunteers’ computer rooms) is not inexpensive. We also may incur some unforeseen legal expenses over the coming months.
With the above, we would like to humbly ask for some support in our cleanup and stability efforts. The initial funding goal is to reach out to node owners who have not donated in the past and have used ASL enough to see the benefits of its quality and long-term survival. We are asking for a voluntary donation of $1/mo ($12/yr) per node to help us maintain and improve the ASL eco-system.
We also took notice that some long standing Allstar based repeater networks/clubs have annual membership dues/subscriptions. We would hope these organizations could pass some of that support forward to the enabling infrastructure.
For those wishing to support our ongoing efforts please see our (501c3) donations page at AllStarLink | Donate
And we thank you in advance,
That is all for now, 73s and be safe, Pete
Pete Elke /WI6H - President
Todd Lesser /KM6RPT - Secretary
David Shaw /WB6WTM - Treasurer
Tim Sawyer /WD6AWP - Vice President
Kevin Custer /W3KKC - Board Member
Message from the Board of Directors - Member's Meetings
March 1, 2021
In light of a recent update to the pttlink.com website and their FCC applications, the Board has been asked about “memberships” and the status of any “members” and their right to convene official "member’s meetings" to gain control of the resources of AllStarLink.
To clarify, since its inception (both in Jim Dixon’s time and as AllStarLink Inc) AllStarLink has never offered memberships, or had members period. Furthermore, anyone who claims they are, were, or knows a member of AllStarLink, is misinformed and may be participating in a fraudulent action to deceive the public, past volunteers and (we just discovered) the US federal government (FCC, USPS etc).
AllStar is run and maintained by many dedicated volunteers that spend long hours improving and assisting network users. The Board’s duty is to let our volunteers work free from harassment and public scrutiny and we would prefer to be relaying gratitude from our thousands users vs wasting time deflecting these publicly posted nonsense and fraudulent applications and filings. We will be following up with the appreciate federal authorities, and rest assured that the network in good hands will remain so.
- 73s and take care, Pete
Pete Elke /WI6H - President
Todd Lesser /KM6RPT - Secretary
David Shaw /WB6WTM - Treasurer
Tim Sawyer /WD6AWP - Vice President
Kevin Custer /W3KKC - Board Member
To assure the long-term viability of the Allstar network we have re-engineered the core architecture for processing node registrations and the distribution of the current nodes list.
This is part of an ongoing two-year project to provide sufficient resources for projected node growth and additional stability. In addition, this will create a stable framework for new types of clients to participate in the future.
We would like to thank all the people involved in this effort over the past 24 months. There has been proof of concepts with varying development tools and numerous load tests and we commend the teams for their unsung efforts. We are pleased to be in the position of deployment as we feel this will remove many current limitations on growth.
During this major architecture change there may be a few bumps in the road. We hope you will be forgiving of any outages in the next few days, and know that the back-end staff will be working diligently to identify and resolve any issues that may arise.
You should also be aware that some specific volunteers (past and current) have opposed this sort of design change and we suspect that you may be reading negative comments from them on various platforms. The board’s staffing goals are to promote technical innovation from as many hams as want to get involved and bring new features and clients to Allstar. We look forward to greeting them and their ideas. Those wishing to get involved in the future of Allstar should contact us via email at volunteer@allstarlink.org.
Any comments or questions can be sent to questions@allstarlink.org and we will respond as time permits and the new system settles in.
From all of us, we thank you in advance for your patience during this change and we hope you continue to enjoy AllstarLink as much as we do.
– 73s Pete
Pete Elke /WI6H - PresidentBryan Fields, W9CR has resigned from AllStarLink. In Byran’s absence we are actively looking for volunteers who love AllStar and have skillsets including programming in C, SQL, and Web design. We have lots of other ways folks can help out. Please contact kuggie at kuggie dot com to let us know if you’d like to help out in some way.
Thank you,
The AllStarLink Board of Directors, Kevin Custer W3KKC Pete Elke WI6H Todd Lesser KM6RPT Tim Sawyer WD6AWP Dave Shaw WB6WTM
Join the discussion on community.allstarlink.org
AllStarLink, Inc., the extension of Jim Dixon's vision for AllStar, has obtained all rights including Copyright to app_rpt and associated material. In the spirit of Open Source, we encourage code contributions to the project. Thank you for your continued support in keeping the AllStar vision alive.
The AllStarLink Board of Directors, Kevin Custer W3KKC Pete Elke WI6H Todd Lesser KM6RPT Tim Sawyer WD6AWP Dave Shaw WB6WTMThe AllStarLink team is announcing our new community online forum.
The app_rpt-users email list has moved to community.allstarlink.org. All archives and user IDs have been copied to Community. Please see this post for details.
Want to get started? Distributions are available for PC, Raspberry Pi 2, 3, and 4 (beta).
Beginner's Guide AllStar Wiki Documentation Community Forum